National Geographic Society presents award to Portuguese version of its magazine

The international organization National Geographic Society recently distinguished the Romanesque Route of the rivers Tâmega and Sousa with an award for the graphic development of a map and a guide of that territory.

The award refers to a work published in August of 2013, in the Portuguese version of that international magazine.

The award was given during an annual gala held in the United States of America.

The map and insert of the Romanesque Route were awarded in the category of “best graphics”.

According to the spokesperson, “the judge stressed the innovation of the project, the quality of the illustration and the cleanliness of the concept, capable of explaining, even to someone who doesn’t dominate the Portuguese language, the topic of the work.”

The map presents, on one of its sides, an illustration with several phases of the construction of a Romanesque church and the richness of the elements of the Romanesque architecture.

On the other side, one can see a map of the territory’s Romanesque route, with the infographics of the 58 monuments and of the different existing typology.

According to that cultural and tourist project headquartered in Vale do Sousa, this was the first time the Portuguese version of the magazine was distinguished with an award given by the international organization National Geographic Society.

The project the Romanesque Route was initiated in 1998, involving the Vale do Sousa’s six municipalities (Felgueiras, Paços de Ferreira, Lousada, Penafiel, Paredes e Castelo de Paiva), and comprising 21 monuments.

In 2010, the route was extended to the municipalities of Baixo Tâmega (Amarante, Marco de Canaveses, Baião and Celorico de Basto) and of Douro Sul (Cinfães e Resende), which permitted to broaden the range to 58 monuments.